› added 10 years ago

77

TIL that soon after his presidency, William Howard Taft lost 80 pounds and explored Alaska.

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E15v7 TIL that United States Army had a tactical deception unit called "Ghost Army" during the WW2, it consisted of 1100 soldiers, their job was to deceive the enemy by inflatable tanks, sound trucks, and fake radio transmissions.
d8y79 TIL: Long periods of isolation without sunlight creates 'time-shifting' effects on the mind to the point of sleep-wake cycles being doubled.
pY4p4 TIL that cities in New England often had a plot of land dedicated for people who didn’t own land. They are known as “poor farms”. Some of them still exist today and are established by towns as land that must be used for charitable purposes.
DQ1Aj TIL about Cliff Young, a 61-year-old farmer who won the 543 mile (875 k) endurance race from Sydney to Melbourne. Wearing work clothes, he ran without sleeping for five days. Surprised to learn there was a cash reward he shared it with the other competitors. Young credited his win to herding sheep.
kOY4W TIL that in December 2013, Tinder had its first Antarctica match between an American McMurdo Station scientist and visiting camper, a 45 minute helicopter ride away